I’m considering making an attempt at building my first PC. I want something pretty high-end PC for gaming, maybe as a media center and to take advantage of the cool features of windows vista.
I budgeted around $2000 to $2200 for the project(system and monitor).
Alienware and Dell were way too expensive for what I wanted so I wrote them off.
However, I just found out that Gateway is making new gaming PC’s(FX530 series) and the prices look pretty good. If I replace the video card in the one I want with an envidia 8800 GTX it still comes in around $2200, without the potential hassle of doing this from the ground up.
Does anyone have any thoughts on these new Gateway PC’s? Some guys on another board said forget them, they’re a rip off but they didn’t give any solid reasons.
Any other advice on this topic would be appreciated as well.
I can post my proposed build if need be(and as long as that won’t send the nerd meter spiraling out of control here on T-Nation).
My suggestion would be to buy a Pentium D 805 or other low-level Pentium dual core proc, put it in a SLI mobo and overclock the bejesus out of it. Get a couple of decent videocards (spend around $300-$400), gig or two of fast RAM, big HD, Plextor optical drive, slam it all into a suitably l337 case and spend the rest of your money on a huge display.
Tom’s Hardware has plans to make your own 4.1 ghz DIY rig for a VERY reasonable $720.
first off , what kind of games do you play, second off do you yourself want to build this rig or do you want the company to? And do you live in canada or the US or what.
either way www.ncix.com is a great site (i got my gaming rig built on it for cheap. Also do you have have a windows version already or are u going to purchase one? (ouch).Just trying to get some info
Get the cheapest dual core you can, over clock it, get 1-2 gigs of ram, a big ass SATA hardrive, and don’t skimp on the video card.
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I posted my specs below. Why do you say get the cheapest dual core? I was going to go with a 2.4 Ghz but should I save the money and go with a 1.86? I’m not real comfortable with overclocking but I need to do more research.
for your first pc i HIGHLY recommend getting every piece in the “best value for money” range. who cares if you play the newest version of F.E.A.R. at 150 fps? it’s smooth when you’re 60+.
Just in the off chance you screw something up – say you shock the mobo or screw up the stands, or… whatever. You’ll feel a lot better being out of pocket $500 than $2500, and in a year, that’s what your $2500 will be worth.
[quote]JD430 wrote:
I posted my specs below. Why do you say get the cheapest dual core? I was going to go with a 2.4 Ghz but should I save the money and go with a 1.86? I’m not real comfortable with overclocking but I need to do more research.
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You system speed doesn’t really come from the processor speed. Well - it does, but you won’t see that much increase in performamce in a 2.4 Ghz chip over a 1.86Ghz chip. At least not enough of an increase to justify the higher price.
Jacking your system up to 2 gigs of ram will provide the most noticeable increase in performance, IMO.
I have built about 50 computers as a hobby/part time job. I never buy new tech stuff - unless it is a gaming machine, and the customer doesn’t mind paying for the newest technology - but even graphics cards that are a genereation or two old are not that bad. I would make sure that you get a PCI Express graphics card, though. I think AGP is on life support.
You can build a hell of a machine for under 2K, and that includes a new monitor.
[quote]JD430 wrote:
rainjack wrote:
DIY all the way.
Get the cheapest dual core you can, over clock it, get 1-2 gigs of ram, a big ass SATA hardrive, and don’t skimp on the video card.
I posted my specs below. Why do you say get the cheapest dual core? I was going to go with a 2.4 Ghz but should I save the money and go with a 1.86? I’m not real comfortable with overclocking but I need to do more research.
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You’ll probably get better results OC’ing a proc with a lower clock speed (or at least better cost/benefit ratio) but if you’re not comfortable with it, don’t bother. You shouldn’t feel obligated to do something that’s going to cause you unnecessary anxiety.
Any dual or quad core CPU will offer damn good performance in games, possibly even more so in the future. (In fact, Athlon 64 FX CPUs are also wicked for gaming, and some can be had for a song nowadays, too, so there’s that to consider).
Really, it just comes down to how much you want to spend and how much effort you’re willing to put into it. If you don’t want to go to too much trouble, then just buy a prefab rig.
[quote]Studio27 wrote:
for your first pc i HIGHLY recommend getting every piece in the “best value for money” range. who cares if you play the newest version of F.E.A.R. at 150 fps? it’s smooth when you’re 60+.
Just in the off chance you screw something up – say you shock the mobo or screw up the stands, or… whatever. You’ll feel a lot better being out of pocket $500 than $2500, and in a year, that’s what your $2500 will be worth.
Take the saved money for rig #2 in a year :)[/quote]
Thats probably not a bad idea but if Im going to spend the money, Ill do it right the first time.
I can come in around 2K, with monitor, for this one and I have installed just about everything in a computer in the past (except the motherboard itself). While its pricey, it wont break me either way.
Maybe you have some tips to make sure I dont screw this up, but Im pretty set on
what I want in my rig.
Couple of great tech sites to help you with the build!!
DIY…done plenty of them and you should be just fine building it yourself. Plenty of knowledgable folks here and else where to help you with questions!!
Couple of great tech sites to help you with the build!!
DIY…done plenty of them and you should be just fine building it yourself. Plenty of knowledgable folks here and else where to help you with questions!!
Good Luck!![/quote]
Ive been reading everything I can at Tom’s hardware. That is one of the nice side benefits of DIY…Ive learned more about computers in the past month than the past 10 years. Also, I wont feel as reliant on some tech-support guy or a salesman in a store.
Thanks in advance should I need help. I posted here because I wasnt getting anywhere with some of the smartass twerps on another board and I knew that this site has some more mature folks.
The only advice I can give you is for gaming, nothing less than a 21" or 22" [u]WIDESCREEN[/u] LCD monitor will do. You can get them for around $300 on newegg.
The monitor is the thing you look at the most on the computer, so I always make sure when building a PC I start there.
[quote]rainjack wrote:
You system speed doesn’t really come from the processor speed. Well - it does, but you won’t see that much increase in performamce in a 2.4 Ghz chip over a 1.86Ghz chip. At least not enough of an increase to justify the higher price.
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FWIW, I agree with this. Overclocking is also easy with C2D’s if you get a board with a good bios interface like one of the better ASUS boards. Some even go as simple as having selections for Overclock 5%, Overclock 10%, etc. where everything is altered automatically by the bios. Mine has it, but screw it, I do it by hand
Especially with Vista looming. 2GB is about minimum for Vista not sucking. Just as an FYI for the OP, if you’re running a 32 bit OS the most ram you can use is 2.8GB, though I’ve never seen a non-industrial setup use even that much.
Generally a good idea, bleeding edge tech is buggy as hell anyway. I at least wait a revision or two so I don’t get a shitty bios or something of the sort. The OP may want to wait until ATI releases their DX10 cards and pushes the market towards competition in that area. It may push the prices down a bit too; they’re synced with Vista’s release.
Normally true, but absolutely untrue for the OP. He wants to make use of Vista, he needs a DX10 card. My cheap little x800gt is plugging along until I make the jump to DX10, though. Getting about 20FPS min on Quake4.
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You can build a hell of a machine for under 2K, and that includes a new monitor. [/quote]
Generally true, but not for the demanding gamer It takes about $3000 to build a “holy shit” system these days.
I read your first paragraph and saw $2,000.00. I stopped there.
With the peripherals I had from my last build, I got RAM, case, MObord, and procesor out the door for less than $500, and I play WOW, while watching you tube, copying movies from cable, and duplicating DVD’s using DVD shrink.
Are you really thinking $2,000.00 to build a gaming system?
I read your first paragraph and saw $2,000.00. I stopped there.
With the peripherals I had from my last build, I got RAM, case, MObord, and procesor out the door for less than $500, and I play WOW, while watching you tube, copying movies from cable, and duplicating DVD’s using DVD shrink.
Are you really thinking $2,000.00 to build a gaming system? [/quote]
If you’re not playing a new game at a high resolution, you really can’t compare. Nothing you’re doing requires a good video card, which eats up the bulk of a computer’s cost these days.
I read your first paragraph and saw $2,000.00. I stopped there.
With the peripherals I had from my last build, I got RAM, case, MObord, and procesor out the door for less than $500, and I play WOW, while watching you tube, copying movies from cable, and duplicating DVD’s using DVD shrink.
Are you really thinking $2,000.00 to build a gaming system?
If you’re not playing a new game at a high resolution, you really can’t compare. Nothing you’re doing requires a good video card, which eats up the bulk of a computer’s cost these days.
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WOW is not a new game? It is game of the year? And I play at the highest settings allowed with my crappy ass 5900XT Nvidea card. Albeit I have 2 gigs of ram.
But, my understanding is that WOW is a cutting edge graphics intense game. Correct me if I am wrong.
